


Misplaced Fragments from New Years Eve

by c00kie



Category: Parks and Recreation
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-06
Updated: 2014-02-06
Packaged: 2018-01-11 10:35:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1172039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/c00kie/pseuds/c00kie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pre Road Trip Au: Ben and Leslie attend the mayor's annual New Years Eve party.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Misplaced Fragments from New Years Eve

**Author's Note:**

> Ashley is a beautiful hummingbird who supports all of my crazy ideas and tells me when I forget to put in quotation marks.

**The Red Dress**

The doorbell rings at seven o'clock on the dot. Taking one last look at herself in her mirror, Leslie pulls down her dress, straightens her necklace and double checks her lipstick before calling out she's coming and hurrying down the stairs to answer the door. When she opens it a cold chill comes in, sending goosebumps up her arms but it quickly disappears at the sight of Ben on her front porch, rubbing his gloved hands together.

"Hi," she says, opening the door wide to let him step inside. "Come in!"

He smiles back at her and enters. "Hi."

 

"How about this one?" Leslie asks, turning around to give Ann a view of the back of her current selection. Ann makes a face and Leslie looks down. "Too many ruffles?"

"A few," Ann says, "Here try this one."

Leslie looks at the sleeveless red cocktail dress Ann's holding. "Oh I don't know. It's a little too sexy dont you think?"

"Exactly." Ann says, giving Leslie a proud smile. 

His mouth is hot on her skin, his hands insistent as she hurries to unlock the door. The door clicks, the green light appears and she turns the knob and pulls Ben into her house by his lapel, fusing her mouth to his. She pushes his jacket off and starts to undo his bowtie, but then he steps back, his eyes dark as they look her over. "I really like this dress, Leslie. But I think it will look much better off of you."   
A wave of heat and desire washes over her. "Take it off."

 

She can feel several pairs of eyes on her as she gives the coat check clerk her coat. It's hard not to feel self conscious in a dress like this. Really, what was she thinking, wearing something this revealing? It's not like her at all. And it's not like she can pretend she doesn't see how Ben is looking at her, like she's a calzone and he's himself and wants to devour her on the spot. 

"You have to help me, Ann! Ben asked me out! On a date! Okay it's not really a date! It's a friend date."

"A friend date?"

"A date, as friends." I

Ann blinks a few times, her confusion evident. "And what will you be doing on this friend date?"

"Oh you know, dancing, dining, ringing in the new year, that sort of thing." 

Sighing, Ann puts her hands on Leslie's shoulders. "Leslie, is this 'friend date' on New Years eve?"  
"If by New Years Eve you mean the night before January first, then yes, it is."

"So you will be having dinner and dancing and," she shakes her head, "ringing in the new year, with Ben. As a friend. Wait, I thought Ben was going to that Mayor's...Oh my god." 

Leslie frantically nods. "I know!"

"Leslie, do you know how risky-"

"I need a dress!"

"This is-"

"Something that says I am here as this man as a friend and nothing else even if I do want to kiss his face off-"

"Absolutely crazy."

**The Friend Date**

"You got an invitation to the Mayor's New Years Ball?"

"Oh yeah," he says, showing her his handwritten invitation from the Mayor's office. "Are you going?"

"I wasn't invited," she says, keeping her tone light. 

"Really?" Ben's face scrunches. "But you saved this town with the Harvest Festival-"

His anger on her behalf makes her want to hug him, but she settles for a soft,"Thank you."

"You're welcome. You deserve to go." 

"It's okay, really. I've heard it's not that great." This is a lie. She's heard the Mayor's Ball is incredible, with a string quartet and delicious food served by waiters who wear tuxedos and an open bar with endless amounts of champagne. 

Ben just smiles at her and Leslie has the bite her lip to keep from pushing him against the wall and going crazy on his face. "Do you want to go with me?"

 

"We have this room for the whole night."

"I'm not going anywhere," she says, climbing back in the bed with him. 

"I want this, I want us." 

"I want us too."

She doesn't know if that means telling Chris, but she imagines they'll figure it out in the morning. 

 

"Leslie Knope, I didn't expect to see you here."

Leslie turns toward Evelyn Roushland and smiles. "Ms. Roushland! It's nice to see you.

"You too. Are you here with someone?" 

Leslie feels her cheeks redden, knowing Evelyn probably thinks Leslie's crashing the event. "Oh, I'm here with Ben Wyatt," she says, pointing to the bar where Ben's getting their drinks. "As friends."

"Oh, I see." Evelyn gives Leslie a once over, making Leslie feel even more self conscious."Well I hope you have a nice evening, Ms. Knope"

"Thanks." Leslie responds, her voice small, her hands shaking. "Happy New Years."

 

"What about this one?" Ann asks, holding up a red cocktail dress that even in her wild college days she would be too self conscious to wear. 

Leslie blinks but then she realizes what her beautiful peacock of a best friend is doing. "Oh, Ann no. This isn't a date and besides, nothing can happen." Nothing can happen has become her mantra concerning Ben, even if she is tired of saying it. 

Ann rolls her eyes. "Okay fine, it's not a date. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't take advantage of the opportunity."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, there's no reason why you can't pretend right? If this is a friend date," she uses finger quotes- "then you might as well go all out." 

Leslie grabs the dress. "I'll be right back." 

 

She lets out a soft sigh as he traces the curve of her breast with his tongue, the scruff on his face scratching her skin in the best way possible as he draws a path down her body. When he reaches her panties he looks at her. 

"Let me taste you." 

 

"Really?" There are a hundred and one reasons why this is a bad idea, namely, Chris' rule. 

"I mean, if you want to go," he says, his voice hurried like he's just realized the implications of his own words. "you know, as uh friends."

"As friends, right." She should feel relieved but she just feels a wave of disappointment. "Yeah."

"I mean," his eyes dart around them, "if anyone asks."

"Of course. If anyone asks." 

"Okay. So it's a date?" He closes his eyes. "a friend date."

"A friend date! Yes." 

She follows him into Chris' office, letting out a low breath.

  
**The Coats.**

Ben comes around the corner just as Chris goes through the double doors leading into the ballroom.

"Everything okay?"

"Chris just said hi."

"Maybe this isn't-"

"No," Ben says, as if knowing what Leslie's about to say. "We are doing this. Right?"

It's in that moment Leslie decides to say "fuck it" and throws caution to the wind and tells Ben they're definitely doing this by pressing her lips against his. 

The clerk coughs. "Your coats."

Ben thanks the teen and takes their coats, draping them over one arm. "C'mon." 

 

"Hi." she knows she's already said that but her stomach is full of nervous fluttering butterflies, making it impossible to form any real coherent thought. The feeling only increases when he looks at her, his eyes mapping out her face and body, stopping at her cleavage and licking his lips for a split second before coughing and looking back into her eyes. 

"You uh, look beautiful." 

Her cheeks heat up but she can't look away from him, his gaze holding her in place. "Thank you."

He's wearing his black wool coat so she can't really see what he looks like in his tux, but she wants to run her fingers through his nicely combed hair and kiss his red cheeks, but she can't say that, no matter how much she wants to. 

So instead she puts on her coat and grabs her evening bag and says, "ready?" and pretends like her heart isn't beating its way out of her chest. 

 

He throws their coats on an armchair and reaches for her. Her toes tingle with excitement, her stomach warm with alcohol and anticipation. She expects the kiss to be rough, heated, but it's not. It's tender and soft, as if he's assuring her that everything will be okay. 

 

"I'm going to get us a room," Ben says handing her his coat check ticket. "You get our coats."

"Okay." She watches him walk away and then hurries to the coat check, giving the clerk their tickets. The kid takes them and heads back into a room, leaving Leslie completely alone. 

"Leslie Knope!"

She's dead. She's dead and she's dead and also fired and so is Ben and their lives have been completely ruined and she should have known better than to- "Chris!"

"I didn't know you were here! What a wonderful surprise!" 

"I…" Does she say she came with Ben? Does she lie? "Yes?" 

"Well that's wonderful! I think Ben is here somewhere too. I should go find him and say hello."

She smiles, probably a little too wide, but Chris doesn't seem to notice. "I'll see you inside, Leslie Knope!" 

 

"Wow," Leslie says after they check their coats and walk into the ballroom. It's full of people in tuxedos and dresses, decorated with white roses and strings of golden lights. The band is a string quartet playing mostly old standards. There are a few people out on the dance floor dancing to Love and Marriage, including Nick Newport and his wife but mostly people are seated at round tables or in line at the bar. Servers are carrying silver trays of champagne and hors d'oeuvres. It's amazing, but all she can think about is how much she wants to rip off Ben's tuxedo and taste every inch of his firm, lithe body. 

 

She jumps back, feeling like she's been electrocuted. He says something but she can't hear it, not over the crashing waves of panic in her head. She pretends not to see how dejected he looks as she backs away, knocking into another person and apologizing before turning and disappearing into the crowd before she ruins everything by going back to Ben and kissing his face for all it's worth. 

She pulls off his tie and begins to push his buttons through the slits with her thumb, revealing pale skin and chest hair she can't wait to run her fingers through. She kisses his collar bone, letting her hands fall to his pants to feel the outline of his hard cock through the coarse fabric. 

 

"Me too." 

He smiles at her and she finds herself beaming right back at him. He holds up his glass and she picks hers up, eagerly waiting to hear what he's about to say. "To friendship." 

"To taking risks." 

 

"I made a mistake, Ben." She swallows her third shot right as he takes a seat next to her at the bar. 

He raises his eyebrow."I highly doubt that."

"No, I did." she swallows her drink and gestures to the bartender for another. "I thought if I came here with you I could get wanting to be with you out of my system but instead it's only making it worse."

 

"Wow."

Leslie giggles, because that's all she can do, and rolls over on her side. "Can I tell you a secret?"

His eyebrows rise, the corners of his lips turn up. "Sure."

She draws a line from the center of his chest to his belly button. "I'm not really drunk."

"Me neither," he says closing his eyes. "Okay maybe I am, a little."

She smiles against his lips. "Just a little."

 

Ben grabs her drink before she can. She glares at him but then he downs the shot. "Okay, here's what we're going to do. We're going to get drunk."

"Okay?" Getting drunk sounds like a great plan. "Uh, you drove us here though?"

He gives her a long look and then then glances around to make sure no one is listening before leaning forward to whisper in her ear. "We're not leaving this hotel."

**Gershwin, Porter and Gin.**

The quartet begins to play _Someone to Watch Over Me_ and even though there's no singer, Leslie can hear every word in her mind as she rests her head on Ben's shoulder and closes her eyes. She can't call what they're doing dancing because there's no real movement, just a tight embrace she doesn't want to end. When the song ends, Leslie look at Ben. His eyes are bright, his expression tender and he still hasn't let her go. They lean in at the same time, she tastes a hint of beer on his lips.

 

"Wow," Leslie says, swallowing her canape. "this is amazing."

Ben grins back at her and it's hard not to just lean up on her tip toes and press her lips to his cheek. 

"Music's good too."

"Sure is," she agrees, out of need to say something. "My dad loved Cole Porter."

"Yeah?" 

"Yeah. He had this old record player and he would put him on and I would stand on his feet and we would dance."

Ben doesn't say anything for a long time, but Leslie can tell he's picturing an eight year old Leslie dancing with her father to _I've Got You Under My Skin_ but then he puts his arm out. "If you promise not to stand on my feet, would you care to dance ?"

Her eyes dart around the room, looking at all the people who will be watching them. Are you sure? 

"It's a party. People dance at parties. Even friends."

"Well," she shrugs, throwing caution to the wind and taking his hand, "if friends do it." 

 

His meaning feels like lightning. "Oh you mean," she gestures to herself and then him. "If we're, and then we, then that's not-"

"It's actually a really shitty plan," Ben says, gesturing for two more shots, "but I'm sick of these rules and if this is what I have to do then I will. What do you say?"  
She tries to think about the consequences, of Chris finding out and whether or not she can keep a straight face and blame alcohol. "He still thinks I had something with Tom, I don't think he'll believe us when we tell him it was a mistake."

Ben sighs. "It's a risk. But it's one I'm willing to take."


End file.
